Method and apparatus for saving calibration parameters for a removable cartridge

ABSTRACT

An information storage device ( 10, 510, 610, 710, 810 ) includes a cradle ( 12, 512, 612, 712, 812 ) which can removably receive a cartridge ( 11, 411, 511, 611, 711 ) that contains a rotatable hard disk ( 91, 326-327 ). A read/write head ( 107, 331-334 ) is supported for movement adjacent the disk by a pivotal actuator arm ( 101 ). The cradle controls alignment of the head with the disk using feedback servo tracking. Calibration parameters used to perform this tracking, such as servo information or read channel information, may be stored in a special track ( 414 ) which is on the disk, and which may be a read-only track. The special track stores a plurality of sets of calibration parameters, each corresponding to a respective combination of a cradle and an environmental characteristic such as temperature. The special track may also be used to store the number of times that the cartridge has been inserted into each of several different cradles, as well as a selected retry method which is more likely than other methods to be successful in recovering data that was subject to errors.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The subject matter of this application is related to the subject matterof U.S. Ser. No. 09/590,511, filed Jun. 9, 2000 and entitled “Method andApparatus for Making a Drive Compatible with a Removable Cartridge”(attorney reference 067470.0116/P0630).

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to an information storagedevice having an information storage medium disposed in a removablecartridge and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for storingcalibration parameters used by the cartridge on the storage mediumwithin the cartridge.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Over the past twenty years, computer technology has evolved veryrapidly. One aspect of this evolution has been a progressively growingdemand for increased storage capacity in memory devices, especiallywhere the information storage medium is disposed in some form ofremovable cartridge. In this regard, just a little over a decade ago,the typical personal computer had a floppy disk drive which acceptedfloppy disk cartridges that contained 5.251″ disks having a storagecapacity up to about 720 KB per cartridge. Not long thereafter, thesedevices gave way to a new generation of floppy disk drives whichaccepted smaller floppy disk cartridges that contained 3.5″ disks havinghigher storage capacities, up to about 1.44 MB per cartridge.

Subsequently, as the evolution continued, a further significant increasein storage capacity was realized in the industry by the introduction ofa storage system having removable cartridges containing floppy-typedisks with storage capacities on the order of 100 MB to 250 MB. Systemsof this are commercially available under the tradename ZIP from IomegaCorporation of Roy, Utah, which is the Assignee of the presentapplication. Thereafter, another significant increase in storagecapacity was realized by the introduction of a system having removablecartridges with storage capacities on the order of 1 GB to 2 GB. Systemsof this type are also available from Iomega Corporation, under thetradename JAZ. The cartridges used in this system had a hard disk in anunsealed housing, with the read/write head in the drive. These twoproducts have each enjoyed immense commercial success. Nevertheless, thedemand for still greater storage capacities in removable cartridgescontinues to progressively increase, such there is a current need forcartridges capable of storing 5 GB to 20 GB, or even more.

The types of removable cartridges discussed above each contain arotatably supported storage medium within an unsealed housing. Theread/write heads, with associated circuitry and support structure, arein the drive rather than in the cartridge. Significantly higher storagecapacities exist in hard disk technology of the type used innon-removable hard disk drives, where the disk and head are both withina sealed housing. However, there are problems involved in attempting tocarry use of this technology over to removable cartridges. This is duein part to the fact that a high-capacity hard disk is highly sensitiveto environmental factors such as dust and static electricity.Consequently, in order to achieve high storage densities, the sealedhousing is needed for the hard disk itself, as well as for someassociated components, such as the read/write heads, which must bewithin the sealed housing and thus within the cartridge. Although someprior attempts have been made to use hard disk technology within asealed housing in a removable cartridge, these attempts never resultedin a product which has had any significant level of commercial success.Instead, the types of cartridges discussed above continue to dominatethe market.

Where a sealed housing has been used, the most typical prior approachwas to incorporate the entire structure of a hard disk drive unit intothe cartridge, such that the cartridge was not significantly differentfrom a self-contained, standalone hard disk drive unit. In a sense, thiswas not a true cartridge at all, but simply a complete andself-contained hard disk drive which could be removed more easily thanmost from the system in which it was installed. One example of such adevice is a system which was commercially available as the model P3250ARremovable hard disk drive from Kalok Corporation of Sunnyvale, Calif.Another example of such a system is disclosed in Blackborow et al. U.S.Pat. No. 5,041,924. Since each cartridge in this type of system iseffectively a standalone, self-contained disk drive, each cartridge isrelatively heavy and expensive.

A different prior approach was to split the components of aself-contained hard disk drive into two groups, and to include one groupwithin a sealed housing in each removable cartridge, and the other groupin a drive which can removably receive one of the cartridges. Examplesof this approach appear in Stollorz U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,762, Iftikar etal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,691, Chan U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,550, Kamo et al.U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,481, Witt et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,464, andLockhart et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,522. While pre-existing productsusing this approach were adequate for their intended purposes, they werenot satisfactory in all respects, and none of them experienced anysignificant commercial success.

In this regard, one consideration is that, where circuitry in a driveeffects alignment of a read/write head with a disk using feedback servocontrol, the drive must be aware of certain servo parameters whichdefine appropriate control characteristics suitable for use with thatparticular type of hard disk. Where a given drive is to be used withvarious different types of cartridges, the appropriate servo parametersmay vary from one cartridge type to another. Moreover, even for aparticular type of cartridge, appropriate servo parameters may varysomewhat from cartridge to cartridge, especially where optimum accuracyis desirable. Consequently, one existing approach is to have the drivecarry out a calibration procedure each time a cartridge is inserted.However, the time required to carry out such a calibration procedure canbe sufficiently long that it is perceptible to a human operator.Further, as storage densities increase, and in situations where a driveis to be used with different types of cartridges, the number and/orcomplexity of the calibrations carried out in the calibration procedureincrease, thereby increasing the initial start up time. A further factorthat can come into play involves environmental conditions such astemperature, because the calibration parameters that may be optimum forone temperature range may not be the calibration parameters that areoptimum for a different temperature range.

Yet another consideration is the fact that, if an error is detected, aprocedure commonly known as a retry method is typically carried out inan attempt to recover the data which was subject to the error. A numberof different retry methods are known in the art, and it is common tosuccessively try various different retry methods until one of them issuccessful. However, each of these retry methods takes a finite amountof time. Where a number of different retry methods are tried insuccession before a successful method is found, there can be a delaywhich is perceptible to and which can annoy a human operator.

Still another consideration is that, when a problem is encountered witha cartridge, the cartridge may be returned to the manufacturer. In orderto efficiently determine the problem, so as to facilitate repair of thecartridge or permit alteration of the cartridge design in order to avoidsimilar future problems, it would be helpful to the manufacturer to havesome historical information about the use of the cartridge. As oneexample, it would be helpful to the manufacturer to know whether thecartridge failed early in its expected operational lifetime, or towardthe end of its operational lifetime following numerous insertions into anumber of different drives.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that a need has arisen for amethod and apparatus for operating an information storage cartridgewhich includes a port and an information storage medium having aninformation storage surface, so as to efficiently determine suitablecalibration parameters for use of the cartridge with each of variousdifferent receiving units, including storage of the calibrationparameters on the storage medium.

According to one form of the present invention, a method and apparatusare provided to address this need, and involve: storing on the storagesurface information which includes control information, the controlinformation including a plurality of control parameter sets which eachcorrespond to a respective receiving unit into which the cartridge canbe removably inserted; supporting the storage medium and a head forrelative movement in a manner causing the head to move relative to thesurface while remaining adjacent thereto; transferring informationbetween the port and the storage medium, including use of the head toeffect at least one of reading information from and writing informationto the storage medium; reading the control information from theinformation storage surface using the head; selecting from the controlinformation one of the control parameter sets which corresponds to arespective receiving unit into which the cartridge is currentlyinserted; and thereafter effecting the relative movement of the head andthe storage medium as a function of the selected control parameter set.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention will be realized fromthe detailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing an information storage deviceaccording to the present invention which includes a cartridge and iscoupled to a host computer system, and also showing a plurality of othertypes of devices into which a cartridge from the information storagedevice can be removably inserted;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the information storagedevice of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing internal structure of theinformation storage device and host system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a portion of the informationstorage device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a further portion of theinformation storage device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view similar to a portion of FIG. 3, showingthe cartridge from the information storage device of FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic sectional view of part of an informationstorage disk assembly, which is an alternative embodiment of aninformation storage disk assembly provided in the information storagedevice of FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 6, showing an alternativeembodiment of the cartridge of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 3, showing an alternativeembodiment of the information storage device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 3, showing a furtheralternative embodiment of the information storage device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 10, showing analternative embodiment of the information storage device of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic top view showing details of an actuatormechanism which is an alternative embodiment of an actuator mechanismpresent in the information storage device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 3, showing still anotheralternative embodiment of the information storage device of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a sequence of operations for theinformation storage device of FIG. 13.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing an information storage device 10which embodies the present invention, which includes an informationstorage cartridge 11 removably inserted into a receiving unit or cradle12, and which is coupled by a cable 18 to a host computer system 17.FIG. 1 also shows a variety of other devices 21-29 into which thecartridge 11 can be removably inserted. Each of the devices 21-29 has,as an integral part thereof, structure which corresponds functionally tothe cradle 12.

In FIG. 1, the devices 21-29 are shown only by way of example, to give asense of the wide variety of types of devices with which the cartridgecould be used. In this regard, the device 21 is a digital camera, thedevice 22 is a portable game device, and the device 23 is a handheldcomputer. The device 23 might alternatively be a unit of the typecommonly known as a personal digital assistant (PDA). The device 24 is aserver which is coupled by a home computer network 36 to several homecomputers, two of which are shown at 37 and 38. It will be noted thatthe server 24 has three slots or receiving units 41-43, which can eachremovably receive a respective different cartridge of the type indicatedat 11. The server does not need to have more than one of the receivingunits 41-43, but three units are shown in FIG. 1 in order to emphasizethat use of more than one can be advantageous.

The device 25 is a cellular telephone, and the device 26 is a videorecording unit which is capable of reading digital video informationfrom the cartridge 11, and/or storing digital video information on thecartridge 11. The device 26 may, for example, be a video recordingdevice similar to the device which is commercially available under thetradename TiVo. The device 27 is a portable “notebook” computer, and thedevice 28 is a global positioning satellite (GPS) device. The device 28is responsive to radio signals from not-illustrated satellites for usingknown techniques to make a precise determination of the current locationof the device 28 on the surface of the earth. The cartridge 11 maycontain map information for the region in which the GPS device 28 iscurrently located, so that the device 28 can display a map on its liquidcrystal display (LCD) screen, and then indicate on that map the currentlocation of the device 28. The device 29 is an electronic book.

As mentioned above, the various devices 21-29 shown in FIG. 1 are merelyexemplary, and it will be recognized that the cartridge 11 could also beused with other types of devices, including variations and modificationsof the specific devices shown in FIG. 1. For example, it would bepossible for the cartridge 11 to be removably inserted into a compactdisk player, a music synthesizer, or an Internet access device designedfor use with a television, such as a device of the type commerciallyavailable under the tradename WebTV. It will also be recognized fromFIG. 1 that the digital information stored in the cartridge 11 canrepresent a variety of different things, including but not limited todata, photographs, video images, sounds such as music, and so forth.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the information storage device10 of FIG. 1. The overall appearance of the device 10 in FIG. 2represents one possible appearance. It will be recognized that theexternal appearance of the device could take a variety of other formswithout departing from the scope of the present invention. In FIG. 2,the cartridge 11 is shown with two labels 51 and 52, one of which maycontain user-supplied information regarding the type of informationwhich is currently stored in the cartridge 11. The other label mayprovide information which is not subject to change, such as the name ofthe manufacturer, the capacity of the cartridge, and so forth.

According to a feature of the present invention, the cradle 12 iscapable of working with several different versions of the cartridge 11.For example, there might be four versions of the cartridge 11 which haverespective storage capacities of 5 GB, 10 GB, 15 GB and 20 GB. Further,there may be different versions of the cartridge 11 which have the samestorage capacity. For example, one version of a 10 GB cartridge may havecertain moving parts supported by high-quality bearings, whereas anotherversion of the 10 GB cartridge may have equivalent moving parts whichare supported by less expensive bushings. The latter version would thusbe less expensive, but would also have a shorter expected operationallifetime.

As discussed in more detail later, when the cartridge 11 has beeninserted into the cradle 12, it is releasably latched in the cradle 12in order to preclude its inadvertent withdrawal while the device 10 isin use. The cradle 12 has a release button 53 which, as discussed later,causes the device 10 to bring to a conclusion any operations which maybe in progress, and to then release the cartridge 11 for withdrawal. Thecartridge 11 is inserted into and removed from the cradle 12 indirections which are indicated in FIG. 2 by the double-headed arrow 56.In the disclosed embodiment, the cartridge 11 contains a hard disk whichis not visible in FIG. 2, but which is illustrated and described in moredetail later. Due to the fact that a hard disk and the associatedread/write heads are highly sensitive to factors such as dust andstatic, the cartridge 11 has a sealed housing 59. The informationstorage device 10 of FIG. 2 will now be described in more detail withreference to FIG. 3.

More specifically, FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the informationstorage device 10 and the host computer system 17 of FIG. 1, anddiagrammatically depicts various components which make up each of thecartridge 11, cradle 12 and host system 17. The cartridge 11 includes aconnector 12 which matingly engages al connector 72 of the cradle 12when the cartridge is inserted in the cradle, the connectors 71 and 72serving as communication ports that allow the cartridge and cradle toexchange electrical signals.

Associated with each of the connectors 71 and 72 is a respective cover73 or 74. Each cover has on one side thereof a respective optionalconductive layer 76 or 77. When the cartridge 11 is removably receivedwithin the cradle 12, the covers 73 and 74 are in open positions shownin FIG. 3, in which the pins of the connectors 71 and 72 are exposed, sothat the connectors can mate. On the other hand, when the cartridge 11has been withdrawn from the cradle 12, the covers 73 and 74 are each ina position in which they cover the pins of the associated connector,with the conductive layers 76 and 77 engaging the outer ends of thepins, in order to prevent the buildup of electrostatic potential in thecircuitry or wiring of either the cartridge 11 or the cradle 12.

The covers 73 and 74 may each be moved manually between their open andclosed positions. Alternatively, a mechanism may be provided toautomatically move one or both of the covers 73 and 74 between theiropen and closed positions as the cartridge 11 is inserted or withdrawn,for example in a manner analogous to the manner in which the cover on astandard 3.5″ floppy disk is automatically opened and closed as thefloppy disk is inserted into and removed from a standard floppy diskdrive.

In order to ensure a proper mating of the connectors 71 and 72 as thecartridge 11 is inserted into the cradle 12, the cartridge must be inaccurate alignment with respect to the cradle 12 as its insertionmovement reaches completion. In the disclosed embodiment, a recess 79 isprovided in the cradle 12 and receives at least a portion of thecartridge 11, so as to ensure that the cartridge 11 and cradle 12 arevery accurately aligned as the connectors 71 and 72 approach each other.In addition to the recess 79, or in place thereof, there may be physicalguide structure which is not illustrated in FIG. 3, such as cooperatingguide slots and guide projections on the cartridge 11 and cradle 12.

Within the housing 59 of the cartridge 11, a hard disk 91 is mounted ona spindle 93, which can be rotatably driven by a spin motor 92. The disk91 and spindle 93 together form a disk assembly. The spin motor 92 iscontrolled by electrical signals received at 96 through the connector71. The hard disk 91 has a substrate made of a known material such asaluminum, glass, plastic, or embossed plastic. On the side of the disk91 which is visible in FIG. 3, the disk 91 has a layer of a knownmagnetic material, where digital information can be magnetically stored.An actuator arm 101 is supported for pivotal movement on the housing 59by a bearing or bushing at 102. At one end, the actuator arm has asuspension 106 which supports a read/write head 107, so that the head isclosely adjacent the surface of the disk 91. The suspension 106 is of aknown type, and is therefore not described here in detail. In thedisclosed embodiment, the head 107 is of a known type, such as aninductive head, a magnetoresistive (MR) head, or a giantmagnetoresistive (GMR) head.

For convenience and clarity in describing the present invention, thecartridge 11 in the embodiment of FIG. 3 is described as having only asingle hard disk 91 with a magnetic surface on only one side thereof,and as having only a single read/write head 107. However, those skilledin the art will recognize that it would be possible to also use theopposite side of the disk 91, in which case a second head would beprovided. Further, it would be possible to provide one or moreadditional disks on the spindle 93, each having one or more additionalheads associated therewith. The present invention is compatible with allsuch configurations.

The head 107 is electrically coupled at 108 to inputs of a preamplifier111, and the outputs of the preamplifier 111 are coupled to theconnector 71 through an electrostatic discharge buffer (EDB) 112. Thebuffer 112 is a commercially available device, and therefore notdescribed here in detail. Alternatively, however, the buffer 112 couldbe a custom device of comparable function. The buffer 112 receivescontrol signals at 113 through the connector 71. When the cartridge 11is withdrawn from the cradle 12, the buffer 112 is disabled, andelectrically isolates the preamplifier ill and the head 107 from thepins of connector 71, in order to protect the preamplifier 111 and head107 from electrostatic energy. When the cartridge 11 is received in thecradle 12, the buffer 112 receives control signals at 113 which cause itto electrically couple the preamplifier 111 to the connector 71, inorder to facilitate system operation. Although the disclosed embodimentof FIG. 3 provides both the buffer 112 and the conductive layer 76 ofcover 73 for the purpose of protecting the cartridge 11 fromelectrostatic energy, it will be recognized that it would be possible toomit one of the buffer 112 and conductive layer 76.

The end of the actuator arm 101 remote from the head 107 is bifurcatedto define two legs, one of which has a magnetically permeable part 116at the outer end thereof, and the other of which has a coil 117 at theouter end thereof. The coil 117 is electrically coupled at 118 to pinsof the connector 71. The coil 117 is physically located very close to awall of the housing 59 of the cartridge 11. Closely adjacent this wallof the housing 59, on the opposite side thereof from the coil 117, thecradle 12 has a stationary magnet 121. The electrical signals suppliedat 118 to the coil 117 cause the coil to create an electromagneticfield, which interacts with the magnetic field of magnet 121 so as toeffect rotational movement of the actuator arm 101 about the pivot 102.The arm 101, head support 106, head 107, pivot 102, and coil 117 may bereferred to as an actuator.

In the disclosed embodiment, in order to increase the interactionbetween the magnetic fields of the coil 117 and the magnet 121, theportion of the cartridge housing 59 between the coil 117 and the magnet121 has a thickness which is less than the thickness of other portionsof the housing. Consequently, a cover 122 is provided to cover this thinwall portion of the housing 59 when the cartridge 11 is removed from thecradle 12, in order to reduce the possibility of damage to this thinwall portion. The cover 122 can be moved between an open position showndiagrammatically in FIG. 3, in which the thin wall portion is exposed,and a closed position in which the thin wall portion is covered. Themovement of the cover 122 can be effected manually, or can alternativelybe effected automatically during cartridge insertion and withdrawal, byan appropriate mechanism of a type which is known in the art and notshown here.

Due to the fact that a wall portion of the housing is between the coil117 and the magnet 121, the magnet 121 in the disclosed embodiment issomewhat stronger than would be the case if it were disposed within thehousing 59, as part of the cartridge 11. Consequently, when thecartridge 11 has been withdrawn from the cradle 12, the magnet 121 willexert a strong attractive force with respect to small pieces of loosemetal such as paper clips and staples. In order to reduce the extent towhich such stray pieces of metal may be drawn to the magnet 121 when thecartridge 11 is not present, a cover 123 is provided for the magnet. Thecover 123 is preferably made of a material which is not magneticallypermeable and which will help to prevent pieces of metal from beingdrawn into engagement with the magnet 121 when the cover 123 is coveringthe magnet 121. The cover 123 can be moved between an open positionshown in FIG. 3, in which the magnet 121 is exposed, and a closedposition in which it covers the magnet 121. The movement of the cover123 can be effected manually, or can alternatively be effectedautomatically during cartridge insertion and withdrawal by anappropriate mechanism of a type which is known in the art and not shownhere.

FIG. 4 shows in more detail the actual structural configuration of thecoil 117 and the magnet 121 which are used in the disclosed embodimentof FIG. 3. More specifically, FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic sectional view,in which it can be seen that the magnet 121 is an assembly whichincludes a U-shaped element 131, and two permanent magnets 132 and 133that are each mounted on the inner side of a respective leg of theelement 131, adjacent the outer end thereof. An assembly of this type issometimes referred to as a magnetic circuit. The element 131 is made ofa metal material which conducts a magnetic field. The thin wall portionof the housing 59 is indicated at 136, and forms an edge portion of thehousing which has a reduced height. When the cartridge 11 is receivedwithin the cradle 12, the portion of reduced height, which is defined bythe thin wall portion 136, is received physically between the magnets132 and 133. As shown in FIG. 4, the coil 117 on the actuator arm 101 isdisposed within this reduced height portion of the housing 59, so thatthe coil 117 is also disposed physically between the magnets 132 and 133when the cartridge is in the cradle 12.

When the disk 91 is rotating at a normal operational speed, the rotationof the disk induces the formation between the disk surface and head 107of an air cushion which is known commonly known as an air bearing.Consequently, the head 107 floats on the air bearing while reading andwriting information to and from the disk, without direct physicalcontact with the disk. As the arm 101 is pivoted due to interactionbetween the coil 117 and the magnet 121, the head 107 movesapproximately radially with respect to the disk. Thus, through relativemovement of head 107 and disk 91 resulting from rotation of the disk 91and also pivotal movement of the arm 101, the head 107 can be moved to aposition aligned with any specific location on the operational portionof the surface of the disk 91.

When the disk 91 is at rest, the air cushion will not exist. Therefore,the head 107 is moved to a special region of the disk at a radiallyinner portion thereof, adjacent the spindle 93. This is commonly knownas the park position of the head. Since the cartridge 11 may besubjected to significant shocks during time periods when it is notreceived within the cradle 12, a special parking arrangement is providedto help maintain the arm 101 and head 107 in the park position. In thisregard, and as previously mentioned, the arm 101 has a magneticallypermeable part 116 thereon. As shown in FIG. 3, a head park magnet 141is provided closely adjacent the wall of housing 59, the magneticallypermeable part 116 being in close proximity to the head park magnet 141when the arm 101 and head 107 are in the park position.

The cradle 12 includes a shunt 142 which, when the cartridge 11 isreceived in the cradle 12, is disposed closely adjacent the wall ofhousing 59 on the opposite side thereof from the head park magnet 141.The shunt 142 serves to reduce the magnetic force exerted by the headpark magnet 141 on the magnetically permeable part 116 and thus on thearm 101. In contrast, when the cartridge 11 is withdrawn from the cradle12 and the shunt 142 is not interacting with the head park magnet 141,the head park magnet 141 will exert a stronger force on the magneticallypermeable part 116, in order to more strongly resist movement of the arm101 away from the park position. This interaction will now be explainedin more detail with reference to FIG. 5.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the head park magnet 141 is anassembly which includes two elongate spaced elements 151 and 152, and apermanent magnet 153 which is disposed between the elements 151 and 152adjacent one end of each. The end portions of the elements 151 and 152which have the magnet 153 therebetween are disposed closely adjacent thewall 59 of the cartridge 11. The portion of the housing 59 adjacent thehead park magnet 141 may optionally have a reduced thickness, and thecovers 122 and 123 of FIG. 3 may optionally be of a size which issufficiently large so that the cover 122 covers the thin wall portionsfor both the coil 117 and the head park magnet 141, and the cover 123covers both the magnet 121 and the shunt 142, to limit the extent towhich small pieces of metal such as staples and paper clips can be drawnto magnetic parts.

The elongate elements 151 and 152 are made of a material which willconduct a magnetic field, such as a metal. Consequently, the magneticfield generated by the permanent magnet 153 is conducted through theelements 151 and 152, so that the elements 151-152 and the magnet 153cooperate to set up a magnetic field having lines of flux 156 thatextend between the end portions of the elements 151-152 that are remotefrom the magnet 153. When the actuator arm 101 is in its park position,the magnetically permeable part 116 thereon is disposed between theseend portions of the elements 151-152, as shown in FIG. 5, so as to besubject to the lines of flux 156. As a result, there is a strongmagnetic resistance to the movement of magnetically permeable part 116away from the position shown in FIG. 5. Consequently, the arm 101 isurged to remain in its park position.

When the cartridge 11 is inserted in the cradle 12, the shunt 142 endsup being positioned closely adjacent the ends of the elements 151-152which have the magnet 153 therebetween, as shown in FIG. 5. In thedisclosed embodiment, the shunt 142 is made of a magnetically permeablematerial, although it could alternatively be a permanent magnet. Themagnetically permeable shunt 142 interacts with the head park magnet 141in a manner which shunts a part of the magnetic field generated by themagnet 153 away from the higher reluctance path indicated at 156, andalong a lower reluctance path having lines of flux 157 which extendthrough the shunt 142. This reduces the strength of the magnetic field156 which interacts with the magnetically permeable part 116, so that itis much easier for the part 116 to move away from the head park magnet141. That is, the arm 101 with the part 116 and head 107 thereon canmore easily move away from its park position. When the cartridge 11 issubsequently withdrawn from the cradle 12, the shunt 142 will no longerbe adjacent the head park magnet 141, as a result of which the magneticfield at 156 will increase again, thereby again increasing the forcewhich tends to retain the magnetically permeable part 116 and thus theactuator arm 101 and head 107 in the park position.

Referring again to FIG. 3, and as mentioned above in association withFIG. 2, a latching mechanism is provided to releasably hold thecartridge 11 in the cradle 12. This avoids an unexpected withdrawal ofthe cartridge while a read or write operation to the disk 91 is inprogress, to thereby avoid corruption of the data on the disk 91, and/orthe application of a mechanical shock while a read or write is inprogress, which might damage the head 107 or the disk 91. This latchingmechanism is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 3 at 171-172, where 171 is aportion of the latching mechanism that is part of the cartridge 11, and172 is a portion of the latching mechanism that is part of the cradle12. When the cartridge 11 is inserted into the cradle 12, the portions171 and 172 mechanically engage each other, and cooperate in a mannerwhich automatically latches the cartridge 11 in the cradle 12. Forexample, a not-illustrated pawl on the cradle 12 could engage anot-illustrated detent on the cartridge 11, and could be releasably heldin place by a solenoid. The latching effect between the latch portions171-172 is indicated diagrammatically in FIG. 3 by the broken line at174. The latch portion 172 disposed in the cradle 12 can be electricallyreleased by a signal supplied on a line 175, as discussed later.

The cartridge 11 may have some form of detectable identificationthereon, for example to permit the cradle 12 to distinguish differentversions of the cartridge 11 from each other. This identificationportion is represented diagrammatically in FIG. 3 at 181. Theidentification portion 181 is optional, and is therefore shown in brokenlines in FIG. 3. The cradle 12 has a detect portion 182, which isaligned with the identification portion 181 when the cartridge 11 isinserted in the cradle 12. The detect portion 182 is capable of readingthe identification portion 181. For example, one known technique whichcan be used here is to provide a reflective arrangement on the exteriorof the cartridge 11 to serve as the identification portion 181. Thedetector portion 182 can include a not-illustrated light emitting diode(LED) which transmits light toward the identification portion 181, andcan also include a not-illustrated sensor which can detect the amount oflight reflected by the identification portion 181. The identificationportions 181 on different types of cartridges would reflect lightdifferently, so that the detect portion 182 could tell the differencebetween them.

An alternative technique, which is also known, is to provide a phosphormaterial on the exterior of the cartridge 11, to serve as theidentification portion 181. The detect portion 182 would expose thephosphor identification portion 181 to light, and then use a sensor tomonitor the rate of decay of the emission of radiation by the phosphor.Different types of cartridges would have different phosphor materialswhich would have different decay rates, so that the detect portion 182could tell the different types of cartridges from each other. Othertechniques could also be used to permit the detect portion 182 tointeract with the identification portion 181 in order to identify thetype of cartridge 11 which is currently in the cradle 12.

The cartridge 11 includes a read-only memory (ROM) 186 which is coupledby lines 187 to the connector 71. In the disclosed embodiment, the ROM186 is a serial type of electrically erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EEPROM), so that information can be read out from the ROM 186through the connector 71 on a single serial data line, thereby reducingthe number of connector pins associated with the ROM 186. The ROM 186contains information about the cartridge 111, such as the storagecapacity of disk 91, the number of concentric tracks on disk 91, thenumber of disks, the type of read/write head 107, the number ofread/write heads, the format used for storing information on the disk91, the information transfer rate for the head 107, informationregarding the pivot 102 (such as whether it uses a bearing or bushing),information regarding the coil 117 (such as its inductance), informationregarding the motor 92 (such as motor constants and inductances), servoinformation used to control tracking of the head 107 relative to thedisk 91, blocks of firmware that can be used in the cradle, and soforth. When the cartridge 11 is first plugged into the cradle 12, thecradle 12 can read this information from the ROM 186, so that the cradle12 has all the information it needs about operational characteristics ofthe specific cartridge 11 which has been inserted, and thus can smoothlyand successfully interact with that particular cartridge 11. Althoughthe disclosed embodiment uses a ROM 186, it will be recognized thatthere are alternatives, such as the use of jumpers or microswitches inplace of the ROM 186, or use of an encryption chip containingnonvolatile memory in place of the ROM 186.

The cartridge 11 also includes an hour meter 191, which is coupled bylines 192 to the connector 71. The hour meter 191 is a circuit whichkeeps track of information such as the cumulative amount of time thatpower has been applied to the cartridge 11, and/or the cumulative amountof time that the spin motor 92 has spent rotating the disk 91. Thecradle 12 can read this type of information out of the hour meter 191through the connector 71, so that it knows how much use the particularcartridge 11 has had. As a result, if the cartridge 11 is of a typewhich has an expected operational lifetime of 5,000 hours, and if thehour meter 191 indicates that the cartridge 11 is approaching thisamount of cumulative operational use, the cradle 12 can cooperate withthe host system 17 to provide a user warning, so that the user can movethe information on the cartridge to a different cartridge before anycatastrophic failure occurs. Although the disclosed embodiment maintainstime information in the hour meter 191, it will be recognized that thereare alternative way to maintain such time information in the cartridge,including storing such information on the disk 91 rather than in aseparate circuit such as the hour meter 191.

The cradle 12 includes a drive electronics circuit 201, which in generalcorresponds to certain electronics that would be found in a standardhard disk drive, and which handles control of functions in the cartridge11 that are involved with reading data from and writing data to the disk91. The drive electronics circuit 201 may optionally be implemented withan existing integrated circuit of the type commonly used in existinghard disk drives. The drive electronics circuit 201 includes a drivecontrol circuit 202, which in turn includes a microprocessor 206 andmemory 207. The memory 207 is a diagrammatic representation of multipletypes of memory, including some ROM and also some random access memory(RAM). The ROM in the memory 207 may be implemented in the form of flashmemory, in order to allow it to be updated. The drive electronicscircuit 201 includes a motor driver circuit 211 of standardconfiguration, which is controlled by the drive control circuit 202, andwhich outputs control signals to the spin motor 92 in the cartridge 11through the connectors 72 and 71.

The drive electronics circuit 201 also includes a read channel circuit212 of standard configuration, which receives signals from the head 107that have propagated through preamplifier 111, buffer 112, andconnectors 71-72. The output of the read channel circuit 212 is suppliedto the drive control circuit 202. The drive electronics circuit 201 alsoincludes a voice coil motor (VCM) driver circuit 213 of standardconfiguration, which is controlled by the drive control circuit 202, andwhich has its outputs coupled through the connectors 71 and 72 to thelines 118 for the coil 117 in the cartridge 11. The drive controlcircuit 202 also outputs control signals on lines 216, which are coupledthrough connectors 71 and 72 to the lines 113 which serve as controlinputs for the buffer 112.

The cradle 12 further includes a bridge circuit 231, which communicateswith the drive electronics circuit 201 through an interface 232. In thedisclosed embodiment, the interface 232 conforms to an industry standardinterface protocol commonly known as the AT Attachment (ATA) protocol.The ATA protocol has several versions, and the one used here is theintelligent drive electronics (IDE) version. This existing protocol wasspecifically developed to facilitate communication with the driveelectronics for a disk drive.

The bridge circuit 231 includes a microprocessor 236, and a memory 237.The memory 237 includes both RAM and ROM, where the ROM is flash memorythat can be selectively electrically reprogrammed when necessary. Thebridge circuit 231 also includes a power management circuit 241, whichpermits the bridge circuit 231 to control a power management functionwith respect to the drive electronics circuit 201. In the disclosedembodiment of FIG. 3, the power management circuit 241 has an output 242which provides operating power to the drive electronics circuit 201.When the line 242 is activated, the drive electronic circuit 201 haspower, whereas when the line 242 is deactivated, the circuit 201 doesnot have power. It will be recognized that the power management circuit241 could provide a more sophisticated level of power management, forexample by independently controlling the power to each of the controlcircuit 202, motor driver circuit 211, read channel circuit 212 and VCMdriver circuit 213, so that they can be powered up or down in apredetermined sequence.

The bridge circuit 231 is coupled through lines 246 and the connectors71-72 to the lines 187 for the ROM 186. This permits the bridge circuit231 to read out the information which is stored in the ROM 186. Thebridge circuit 231 is also coupled through lines 247 and connectors71-72 to the lines 192 for the hour meter 191. This permits the bridgecircuit 231 to read the information which is present in the hour meter191. The output of the detect portion 182 is coupled through a line 251to the bridge circuit 231, so that the bridge circuit has access to theinformation represented by the identification portion 181 of thecartridge 11.

The bridge circuit 231 is coupled through the line 175 to the portion172 of the latch mechanism, and can selectively produce a signal on line175 which releases the portion 172 of the latch mechanism, so as toeliminate the latching effect 174 and permit the cartridge to bewithdrawn from the cradle 12. As discussed above in association withFIG. 2, the cradle 12 has a manually operable release button 53, whichis a momentary switch, and which is coupled at 252 to an input of thebridge circuit 231.

The bridge circuit 231 has a further interface 256, through which thebridge circuit can communicate with the host system 17. The interface256 conforms to an industry standard protocol which, in the disclosedembodiment, is different from the protocol used for interface 232. Inparticular, the interface 256 uses a protocol commonly known in theindustry as the AT Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI) protocol.

One function of the bridge circuit 231 is to take commands receivedthrough the interface 256, which conform to the ATAPI protocol andrelate to operation of the drive electronics circuit 201, and to convertthese commands to commands which conform to the ATA protocol. Theconverted commands are then passed through the interface 232 to thedrive electronics circuit 201. A further function of a bridge circuit231 is to handle local functions which relate to the removability of thecartridge 11, and which thus would not be present in a pre-existingself-contained disk drive where the disk and the read/write head arepermanently coupled to the drive electronics. Thus, for example,information about the cartridge 11 obtained from the ROM 186 and/or theidentification portion 181 are supplied to the bridge circuit 231.Further, the bridge circuit 231 is responsive to the release button 53,and also controls the latch mechanism 171-172.

The bridge circuit 231 coordinates the operation of the cradle 12 withthe operation of host system 17. For example, if a large block of datais being written to the disk 91 when the user happens to press therelease button 53, the bridge circuit 231 would notify the host system17 that the release button 53 had been pressed, and then the host system17 and bridge circuit 231 would cooperate to either interrupt the datatransfer or permit it to finish, after which the bridge circuit 231would use line 175 to release the latch mechanism 171-172 in order topermit the cartridge 11 to be withdrawn.

The cradle 12 may optionally include an interface circuit 261, which iscoupled between the bridge circuit 231 and the host system 17. Since theinterface circuit 261 is optional, it is shown in broken lines in FIG.3. The interface circuit 261 includes a microprocessor 262, and a memory263 which includes both ROM and RAM. Interface circuit 261 has theinterface 256 on one side thereof, and a further interface 266 on theopposite thereof. If the host system 17 is configured to communicatewith the cradle 12 using the above-mentioned ATAPI protocol, then theinterface circuit 261 is omitted, and the interfaces 256 and 266 areeffectively coupled directly to each other so as to form a singleinterface through which the host system 17 and the bridge circuit 231communicate with each other. On the other hand, if the host system 17 isconfigured to communicate with the cradle 12 using a protocol other thanATAPI, then the interface circuit 261 is provided in the cradle 12 toprovide the necessary conversion between the host system protocol andthe ATAPI protocol.

For example, the host system 17 and interface circuit 261 maycommunicate with each other through the cable 18 using a selected one ofseveral different protocols, which in the disclosed embodiment includethe industry standard Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) protocol,the industry standard Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol, the industrystandard IEEE 1394 protocol promulgated by the Institute of Electricaland Electronic Engineers (IEEE), or the industry standard PersonalComputer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) protocol, whichis also known as the PC Card protocol. Other protocols couldalternatively be used for communication between the host system 17 andthe interface circuit 261. The cradle 12 can thus be adapted for usewith any of several different host systems, by either omitting theinterface circuit 261, or by including one of several differentinterface circuits 261 which each implement a respective differentprotocol with respect to the host system 17.

If the host system 17 communicates with the cradle using one of the USB,PCMCIA or IEEE 1394 protocols, the host system 17 will provide powerthrough the cable 18, and the cradle 12 and cartridge 11 can operatefrom this power, unless they need more power than that permitted by thespecification for the respective protocol. If they need more power thanpermitted by the specification, a not-illustrated external power sourcewould have to be provided for the cradle 12, such as a converter whichplugs into a standard 110 volt wall socket and provides direct currentoperating power to the cradle 12. On the other hand, if the host systemcommunicates with the cradle using either the ATAPI or SCSI protocol,power would not be provided through the cable 18, and another powersource such as a converter would be needed.

The foregoing discussion mentions the specific protocols of ATA, ATAPI,USB, SCSI, PCMCIA, and IEEE 1394. This is because these currently arecommon protocols in the industry. However, it will be recognized thatthe invention is entirely suitable for use with other existing or futureprotocols.

Although the bridge circuit 231 and interface circuit 261 are physicallyseparate circuits in the embodiment of FIG. 3, it will be recognizedthat it would alternatively be possible to integrate them into a singlecircuit having a single processor. In this regard, one possible optionwould be to provide several versions of this circuit which eachcommunicate with the drive electronics circuit 201 according to the ATAprotocol, and each communicate with the host system 17 using arespective one of the ATAPI, USB, SCSI, PCMCIA, and IEEE 1394 protocols,as appropriate. Alternatively, a single version of the combined circuitcould be provided, with a processor that had sufficient intelligence tocommunicate with the drive electronics circuit 201 according to the ATAprotocol, and to communicate with the host system 17 using any of theATAPI, USB, SCSI, PCMCIA, and IEEE 1394 protocols, as appropriate. Ineach case, it would not be necessary to translate commands into theATAPI protocol unless that was the protocol being used by the hostsystem 17 for communication with the cradle 12.

In a similar manner, although the embodiment of FIG. 3 shows the driveelectronics circuit 201 as being separate from each of the bridgecircuit 231 and the interface circuit 261, the drive electronics circuit201 could optionally be combined with the bridge circuit 231, or withboth the bridge circuit 231 and the interface circuit 261. In each case,it would not be necessary to translate commands into the ATA protocol.Further, if the interface circuit 261 was part of the combination, itwould not be necessary to translate commands into the ATAPI protocolunless that was the protocol being used by the host system 17 forcommunication with the cradle 12.

In the disclosed embodiment, the cradle 12 has a connector 276 which isreleasably coupled to a connector 277 at the end of cable 18. Theconnectors 276 and 277 are of an industry standard type. The hardware ofthe host system 17 is a standard computer, for example a commerciallyavailable computer of the type commonly known as a personal computer ora workstation. The host system 17 includes a microprocessor 281 and amemory 282, where the memory 282 includes RAM, ROM and a hard diskdrive. The host system 17 also includes a compact disk read-only memory(CD-ROM) drive 286, which can removably receive a compact disk 287. Thesystem 17 further includes a standard floppy disk drive 288, which canremovably receive a floppy disk 289.

The system 17 has an interface 292 such as a modem, through which it canbe coupled to the Internet. Further, the system 17 has an interface 296,which permits it to communicate with the cradle 12 through cable 18. Inthe disclosed embodiment, and as discussed above, the interface 296conforms to one of several industry standard protocols such as the ATAPIprotocol, the SCSI protocol, the PCMCIA protocol, the USB protocol, orthe IEEE 1394 protocol.

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view of the cartridge 11, showing the samebasic internal structure as FIG. 3. According to a feature of thepresent invention, the connector 71 is electrically coupled to allcomponents within the cartridge 11 by a single flex circuit, which isindicated diagrammatically in FIG. 6 by a broken line 311. In thedisclosed embodiment, this flex circuit 311 has mounted on it theintegrated circuits for the preamplifier 111, the buffer 112, the ROM186, and the hour meter 191. The flex circuit 311 is coupled at one endto the connector 71, and at its other end to the spin motor 92, the head107, and the coil 117. The end of the flex circuit remote from theconnector 71 may be bifurcated in order to facilitate the connections toeach of the motor 92, head 107, and coil 117, provided the bifurcationsare integral parts of the flex circuit. Although use of a single flexcircuit is one significant feature of the invention, it will berecognized that there are other features of the invention which can beused in cartridges that have the single flex circuit, as well ascartridges that use other techniques to effect the needed electricalcoupling between components.

As discussed above, it is customary to move each head of a disk drive ina radial direction to a radially inner or outer edge portion of the diskwhen the disk drive is not in use, so that an unexpected shock or joltdoes not cause damage to the disk or head due to engagementtherebetween. In this regard, a significant concern is possible damageto the layer of magnetic recording material on the surface of the disk,since such damage may render that portion of the disk incapable of beingproperly read or written, with a loss of any data that is already storedthere. Consequently, in a standard park position, the head is notradially aligned with the portion of the magnetic surface layer used tostore information, thereby minimizing the likelihood that a shock orjolt will produce damage to that portion of the layer.

When the head is in the park position, a severe jolt or shock canproduce damage to the head or disk as a result of what is known as headslap, and a significant concern here is damage to the head itself. Headslap occurs when the head is moved away from the disk due to a shock orjolt, and then moves back toward the disk and strikes the disk at a highvelocity. In a cartridge of the type involved in the present invention,the potential for head slap is reasonably high, because the cartridge ishighly portable. For example, there is a relatively high risk that thecartridge may be inadvertently dropped on the floor, or otherwisesubjected to a relatively severe shock of jolt. Consequently, thepresent invention provides a technique for reducing the potential forhead slap to occur. This is described in more detail with reference toFIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic sectional side view of a disk assembly 321,which is an alternative embodiment of the disk assembly discussed abovein association with the cartridge 11. In particular, the cartridge 11has only a single disk 91 and a single head 107, whereas the diskassembly 322 has two disks 326-327 mounted on a hub 322, and four heads331-334 which are each associated with a respective side of a respectivedisk. The disk assembly 321 is rotated about an axis 336 by a spinmotor, which is shown diagrammatically at 337. The hub 322 includesthree disk clamps 341-343, which are fixedly secured to each other. Thedisk 326 has a radially inner edge portion fixedly clamped between thedisk clamps 341 and 342, and the disk 327 has a radially inner (edgeportion fixedly clamped between the disk clamps 342 and 343.

Each of the disk clamps 341-343 has a respective radially outwardlyprojecting annular flange or projection 346-348. The flange 346 has onthe lower side thereof an annular limit surface 351 which is spaced fromand faces the upper side of disk 326. Similarly, the flange 347 hasannular limit surfaces 352 and 353 on opposite sides thereof whichrespectively face a lower surface of disk 326 and an upper surface ofdisk 327. The flange 348 has an annular limit surface 354 which isspaced from and faces the lower surface of disk 327. The heads 331-334are shown in their park positions in FIG. 7, in which they are eachdisposed between the associated disk surface and a respective one of thelimit surfaces 351-354. It will be recognized from FIG. 7 that the limitsurfaces 351-354 serve to limit the extent to which any of the heads331-334 can move away from the associated disk surface. The limitsurfaces may engage the heads directly, or indirectly through engagementwith the support structure for the heads.

Since the heads 331-334 in FIG. 7 are each prevented from moving asubstantial distance away from the associated disk surface, they arealso each prevented from moving back toward the disk surface at arelatively high velocity, which in turn substantially reduces oreliminates the possibility for the occurrence of head slap, which inturn reduces the potential for damage to the heads 331-334 as a resultof head slap. It is known in the art that disk clamps need to befabricated with a high degree of precision, in order to maintain properdisk spacing. Accordingly, adding the annular flanges 346-348 with limitsurfaces 351-354 to the disk clamps 341-343 does not involve anysignificant increase to the fabrication cost of the disk clamps 341-343.

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view of a cartridge 411 which is generallysimilar to the cartridge 11 of FIG. 6, except for differences which aredescribed below. In the cartridge 411, the park position of the arm 101and the head 107 is at the radially outer portion of the disk 91, ratherthan the radially inner portion thereof. In the cartridge 11 of FIG. 6,information about characteristics of the cartridge may be obtained fromthe ROM 186 and/or information portion 181. The cartridge 411 takes analternative approach. In particular, the disk 91 of cartridge 411 has ata radially inner portion thereof a single track which is indicateddiagrammatically at 414, which is relatively wide in comparison to othertracks, and which stores information about characteristics of thecartridge 411, including information of the type discussed above inassociation with the ROM 186. This track may optionally be implementedusing a non-magnetic pattern, such as a disk indelible utility mark(DIUM). This non-modifiable mark can provide identification information,and is implemented in the form of an abated pattern on a portion of thetrack 414. The DIUM may extend across multiple tracks and can preventaccidental modification of the identification information.

The cartridge 411 has a hard mechanical stop 417 positioned so that,when the arm 101 is rotated counter-clockwise until it engages the stop417, the head 107 will be aligned with the track 414. Because of theprovision of the stop 417, data can be read from the track 414 withoutcarrying out track following using a servo system. Consequently,information read from the track 414 can include the informationnecessary to initialize the servo system. Since the provision of thetrack 414 and the stop 417 could permit the ROM 186 to be optionallyomitted, the ROM 186 is shown in broken lines in FIG. 8. It will berecognized that it would be alternatively possible to provide the track414 near the radially outer edge of the disk 91.

In an alternative embodiment of the cartridge 411 of FIG. 8, the stop417 could be omitted, and the special track 414 could be wide enough topermit information to be reliably read from it using default servoparameters. In still another alternative embodiment of the cartridge411, the stop 417 could be omitted, and characteristic information aboutthe cartridge could be split between the ROM 186 and the special track414. The ROM 186 would be initially read in order to obtain some initialparameters, such as initial servo settings and other information neededto accurately read the special track 414, and then the special track 414could be read in order to obtain a larger amount of information,possibly including blocks of firmware or the like.

Referring again to FIG. 3, still another technique by which the cradle12 could determine characteristic information about a particularcartridge 11 would be to investigate the number of heads 107 which arepresent in the cartridge. One way to achieve this would be toelectrically evaluate certain characteristics of the preamplifier 111,which will vary in dependence on the number of heads 107.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 3, but showing aninformation storage device 510 which is an alternative embodiment of theinformation storage device 10 of FIG. 3, and which includes a cartridge511 and cradle 512. Device 510 of FIG. 9 is generally similar to device10 of FIG. 3, except as described below. More specifically, in FIG. 3,the magnet 121 is disposed in the cradle 12, whereas in the device 510of FIG. 9, the magnet 121 is disposed in the cartridge 511. As a result,the wall of the cartridge does not extend between the coil 117 and themagnet 121, but aside from this the configuration of the coil 117 andmagnet 121 is generally similar to that shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 3, but showing aninformation storage device 610 which is an alternative embodiment of thedevice 10 of FIG. 3, and which includes a cartridge 611 and a cradle612. The device 610 of FIG. 10 is generally similar to the device 10 ofFIG. 3, except for differences which are described below. Morespecifically, in the device 610, the spin motor 92 for the disk 91 islocated in the cradle 612 rather than in the cartridge 611. The spinmotor 92 drives a magnetic disk 631, which is provided in the cradle 612at a location adjacent the cartridge 611. The cartridge 611 has afurther magnetic disk 632, which is rotatably driving coupled to theinformation storage disk 91. When the cartridge 611 is removablydisposed in the cradle 612, the magnetic disks 631 and 632 aremagnetically drivingly coupled to each other, as indicateddiagrammatically at 633, so that rotation of the spin motor 92 effectsrotation of the disk 91.

The magnetic disk 632 is disposed within the sealed housing of thecartridge 611, and a wall portion of the cartridge 611 disposed betweenthe disks 631 and 632 is relatively thin in order to facilitate theeffect of the magnetic coupling effect 633. Consequently, the cartridge611 includes a cover 646 which may be moved between an open positionshown in FIG. 10 and a closed position in which it covers the thin wallportion of the cartridge housing associated with the disk 632. The cover646 may be moved manually, or may be moved automatically by anot-illustrated mechanism of a type which is known in the art.

The magnetic disk 631 in the cradle 612 may be disposed either inside oroutside of a wall of the cradle 612. In either case, a cover 647 isprovided to cover either the disk 631 or the associated thin wallportion of the cradle when the cartridge 611 is not present. The cover647 may be moved manually between the open position of FIG. 10 and aclosed position covering either the disk 631 or an associated thin wallportion, but could alternatively be moved automatically between thesepositions by a not-illustrated mechanism of a known type.

In an alternative embodiment of the device 610 of FIG. 10, the twomagnetic disks 631 and 632 would be omitted. The spin motor 92 would besplit so as to separate the stator and rotor, with the stator beingprovided in the cradle in approximately the location occupied by thedisk 631 in FIG. 10. The rotor would be provided within the cartridge611, in approximately the location occupied by the disk 632 in FIG. 10,and would be drivingly coupled to the disk 91. The magnetic fieldgenerated by the stator would act on the rotor through the wall of thecartridge housing, so as to effect rotation of the rotor and thus thedisk 91.

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 10, showing aninformation storage device 710 which is an alternative embodiment of theinformation storage device 610 of FIG. 10. The device 710 is generallysimilar to the device 610, except as described below. One similarity,which has already been described above in association with device 610,is that the spin motor 92 is in the cradle 712 and is magneticallycoupled by the disks 631 and 632 to the information storage disk 91 inthe cartridge 711. The basic difference between the device 710 and thedevice 610 is that the preamplifier 111 has been moved from thecartridge 711 to the cradle 712, such that it is coupled between theconnector 72 and the inputs to the read channel circuit 212. The outputlines 108 from the head 107 are coupled directly to inputs of the buffer112. Output signals from the head 107 thus flow through the buffer 112,the connectors 71-72, and the preamplifier 111 to the read channelcircuit 212. It is expected that implementation of the embodiment ofFIG. 11 may be facilitated through the use of a known technique whichrelates to the operation of the read channel 212, and which is commonlyreferred in the industry to as Partial Response Maximum Likelihood(PRML) technology. PRML technology can also be used in other embodimentsdisclosed herein.

Referring again to FIG. 3, and as mentioned above, the memories 207, 237and 263 each include ROM, at least some of which is preferablyimplemented with flash memory in order to permit selective electricalreprogramming thereof when an update is needed. For purposes ofconvenience, the following discussion of reprogramming is presented inthe context of the memory 237, but similar considerations would apply inthe case of the memories 207 and 263.

From time to time, it may be desirable to update the program in memory237. For example, some time after the cradle 12 of FIG. 3 has been soldto a customer, a new version of the cartridge 11 may be developed, inwhich information is stored on the disk 91 in a format different fromthe formats used for prior versions of the cartridge 11. Consequently,in order for the cradle 12 to operate satisfactorily with the newversion of the cartridge, the program stored in memory 237 would need tobe updated, in order to make the bridge circuit 231 familiar with thenew format used to store data in the new version of the cartridge. Thereare several ways in which this update could be effected.

As one example, updated firmware for the memory 237 could be downloadedinto the host system 17 from the Internet 293, or could be supplied tothe host system 17 from a compact disk 287 or a floppy disk 289. Stillanother alternative is to store the new firmware on the disk 91 of apreexisting version of the cartridge 11, insert that cartridge into thecradle 12, and then transfer the new firmware from the disk 91 in thatcartridge to the host system 17. In each of these situations, once thenew firmware is temporarily resident in the host system 17, the hostsystem 17 can send commands to the cradle 12 which place the cradle 12in a mode where it will update an internal memory, such as the flashmemory within memory 237, by writing into that flash memory the newfirmware received from the host system 17 through the cable 18.

Alternatively, in the situation where the new firmware is provided onthe disk 91 of an existing version of the cartridge 11, and where thatcartridge has been plugged into the cradle 12, the host system 17 couldinstruct the cradle 12 to enter a mode where the cradle extracts thatfirmware from the disk 91 and writes it directly to the flash memorywithin memory 237, without the intermediate step of transferring the newfirmware to and from the host system 17 through the cable 18. As yetanother alternative, there are situations in which it would be possiblefor a new version of the cartridge 11 to be inserted into the cradle 12,even though the cradle 12 is not yet fully compatible with it, and forthe cradle 12 to download the new firmware directly from the disk 91 onthat new version of the cartridge. For example, and as discussed abovein association with FIG. 8, every version of the cartridge might berequired to have a special track such as that shown at 414 in FIG. 8,which would store certain information such as firmware, and which couldbe read without servo tracking through use of the stop 417. After beingread out in this manner, the new firmware would be written directly tothe flash memory within memory 237. The cradle could then switch tooperation using this new firmware, and this new firmware would give thecradle the capability to properly interact in a normal operationalmanner with the remainder of the tracks on that new version of thecartridge 11, using normal servo tracking.

FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic top view showing an actuator mechanism whichis an alternative embodiment of the actuator mechanism in informationstorage device 10 of FIG. 2. Similar parts are identified by similarreference numerals, and are not described again in detail here. Onedifference is that, in the embodiment of FIG. 12, the end of the arm 101remote from the head 107 is not physically bifurcated. The magneticallypermeable part 116 is mounted on or close to the coil 117. When the arm101 and head 107 is in the park position, the magnetically permeablepart 116 is disposed adjacent the head park magnet 141. The head parkmagnet 141 is mounted stationarily within the cartridge, and generates amagnetic field that yieldably resists movement of the arm 101 away fromits park position when the cartridge is not within the cradle. When thecartridge is in the cradle, the shunt 142 in the cradle is disposedadjacent the head park magnet 141, as shown diagrammatically by brokenlines in FIG. 12, and affects the magnetic flux produced by the headpark magnetic 141 so as to reduce the attractive force exerted on themagnetically permeable part 116, in the manner already described indetail above.

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 3, but showing aninformation storage device 810 which is still another alternativeembodiment of the information storage device 10 of FIG. 3. Theinformation storage device 810 includes a removable cartridge 411, whichhas previously been described in association with FIG. 8. As previouslyexplained, this cartridge 411 includes the special track 414 at theradially inner portion of the disk 91, and includes the mechanical stop417 which can engage the pivotal arm 101 in order to limit inwardmovement of the head 107 to a radial position in which the head 107 isaligned with the track 414.

The information storage device 810 also includes a cradle 812, which isgenerally similar to the cradle 12 of FIG. 3, except for the differencesdescribed hereinafter. In particular, the cradle 812 includes atemperature sensor 819, which has an output coupled to an input of thebridge circuit 231. The sensor 819 could alternatively sense anenvironmental condition different from temperature, such as humidity orambient air pressure. As a further alternative, there could be multiplesensors, such as the temperature sensor 819, a separate humidity sensor,and/or a separate air pressure sensor, each such sensor having arespective output coupled to a respective input of the bridge circuit231.

The bridge circuit 231 stores, for example in the memory 237,information which is shown in TABLE 1, and which represents severalpredefined temperature ranges. As evident from TABLE 1, the disclosedembodiment of FIG. 13 has five predefined temperature ranges, which areeach associated with a respective identification code T0, T1, T2, T3 orT4. Each range corresponds to a respective 5° C. portion of thetemperature spectrum from 10° C. to 35° C. Although five temperatureranges are shown in TABLE 1, it will be recognized that a larger orsmaller number of temperature ranges could be provided.

TABLE 1 Temperature Ranges Range ID Temperature Range T0 10-15° C. T115-20° C. T2 20-25° C. T3 25-30° C. T4 30-35° C.

The cradle 812 also stores, for example in the memory 237, a list ofretry methods, as represented in TABLE 2. The left column in TABLE 2 isa series of letters which each uniquely identify a respective retrymethod, and the right column in TABLE 2 lists a series of differentretry methods. In the disclosed embodiment, the retry methods listed inTABLE 2 are each a different technique which is known in the art, andthese retry methods are therefore not illustrated and described here indetail.

In the event the cradle 812 determines that it is experiencing errors inreading data from the disk 91 of the cartridge 411, the cradle 812 canuse one or more of the retry methods from TABLE 2 in succession, in anattempt to accurately read and thus recover the data as to which anerror was experienced. The use of these retry methods is addressed againlater.

TABLE 2 Retry Methods A Retry Method 1 B Retry Method 2 C Retry Method 3D Retry Method 4 E Retry Method 5 . . . . . .

The special track 414 on the disk 91 in cartridge 411 stores a tablewhich includes information about each cradle into which this particularcartridge 411 has been inserted. An example of this table is presentedhere as TABLE 3. The left column in TABLE 3 includes the serial numberof each cradle into which this specific cartridge has previously beeninserted. In the disclosed embodiment, the information in TABLE 3 ismaintained by the cradles into which the cartridge 411 is inserted,rather than by the cartridge itself. However, some or all of theintelligence needed to maintain the table could alternatively beprovided in the cartridge itself. If the cartridge is inserted into acradle that it has never been used with before, the cradle will add anew row at the end of TABLE 3 stored within the track 414.

The rows in TABLE 3 have three columns. The left column is a list of theserial numbers of the cradles into which this particular cartridge haspreviously been inserted. The middle column is a count of the number oftimes the cartridge has been inserted into each respective cradle. Theright column is a letter identifying one of the retry methods from TABLE2 which, for this particular combination of cartridge and cradle, isconsidered to have a greater likelihood of success than other retrymethods in the table. Thus, for example, the right entry in the firstrow of TABLE 3 is the letter “E”, which is designating Retry Method 5 inTABLE 2. The manner in which the information in TABLE 3 is used andmaintained will be discussed in more detail later.

TABLE 3 Cradle Information Cradle Insertion Best Retry Serial NumberCount Method ID 72AF 27 E 9B22  3 A 63A5 62 C . . . . . . . . .

The track 414 on the disk 91 stores a further table that containscalibration parameters, and an example of this table is presented hereas TABLE 4. The first column in TABLE 4 contains a list of cradle serialnumbers, and the second column contains a list of range identificationcodes that each identify a respective entry in TABLE 1. Each row inTABLE 4 corresponds to a respective combination of a cradle serialnumber and a temperature range, as set forth in the first two columns.Thus, it will be noted in TABLE 4 that the hypothetical serial number“72AF” appears twice in the table, the first time in association withtemperature range T2 and the second time in association with temperaturerange T3. Each combination of a particular serial number and aparticular temperature range is permitted to occur only once in TABLE 4.Thus, at most, a given serial number may occur five times in TABLE 4,because TABLE 1 of the disclosed embodiment identifies five possibletemperature ranges.

The rows in TABLE 4 are added and maintained by the cradles into whichthe cartridge is inserted. Thus, if the ambient temperature has alwaysbeen within range T2 when the cartridge has previously been used with aparticular cradle, there will only be one entry in TABLE 4 for thatparticular cradle serial number, and it will identify temperature rangeT2. Alternatively, if prior operation of the cartridge with thatparticular cradle has involved some periods of time in temperature rangeT2 and also some periods of time in temperature range T3, then TABLE 4of that cartridge will include two rows corresponding to that particularcradle, each row corresponding to a respective one of temperature rangesT2 and T3.

The third and fourth columns in TABLE 4 are respective calibrationparameters, which in the disclosed embodiment are a demodulation offsetand a servo gain. Although these are the particular parameters used inthe disclosed embodiment, it will be recognized that it would bepossible to use different parameters, and/or a larger or smaller numberof parameters. For example, the calibration parameters can include servoinformation of the type shown in TABLE 4, and/or read channelinformation of a known type. The calibration parameters from the thirdand fourth columns of TABLE 4 are used by the cradle 812 to controlmovement of the arm 101 and the head 107 in the cartridge 411, forpurposes of reading data from and writing data to the tracks on the disk91, other than the special track 414. Different calibration parametersmay work better for different cradles, and for different temperatureranges. This is why TABLE 4 stores a respective set of calibrationparameters for each unique combination of a cradle serial number and atemperature range.

TABLE 4 Calibration Parameters Cradle Temperature Demodulation ServoSerial Number Range ID Offset Gain 72AF T2 24 16 72AF T3 22 18 9B22 T323 17 . . . . . . . . . . . .

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a sequence of operations carried out bythe cradle 812 in order to properly operate with the cartridge 411,including use and maintenance of the TABLEs 3 and 4 stored in the track414 on the disk 91. More specifically, when no cartridge is inserted,the cradle 812 waits at block 851, checking for insertion of acartridge. When a cartridge 411 is inserted, control proceeds from block851 to block 852, where the cradle accesses the track 414 of the disk 91in the cartridge 411 in order to read the entry from TABLE 3 whichcorresponds to that cartridge, including the insertion count. The cradlethen adds one to the insertion count and writes the updated insertioncount back to the table on the disk 91. If the cradle finds that thereis no entry for itself, which means that the particular cartridge hasnever previously been inserted into this particular cradle, the cradleadds a row to TABLE 3 on the disk 91, setting the insertion count to“1”.

Control then proceeds to block 853, where the cradle uses a temperaturesensor 819 to determine the ambient temperature. The cradle thenidentifies the temperature range in TABLE 1 which corresponds to thisambient temperature.

Control then proceeds to block 856 in FIG. 14, where the cradle againaccesses the track 414 on disk 91, and reads the contents of TABLE 4.The cradle then searches this table for a row which includes both itsown unique serial number and also the temperature range identificationcode corresponding to the temperature range identified at block 853.Then, at block 857, the cradle evaluates whether a match has been found.If a match was found, then controls proceeds to block 858, where thecradle extracts from that row of TABLE 4 the specified calibrationparameters (such as demodulation offset and servo gain), and thenconfigures itself to use those calibration parameters for accessingportions of the disk 91 other than the special track 414.

Alternatively, if it had been determined at block 857 that no match wasfound, or in other words that TABLE 4 did not include a rowcorresponding to this particular cradle and the current ambienttemperature, control would have proceeded from block 857 to block 861.In block 861, the cradle executes a calibration procedure of a typewhich is known in the art, and which is therefore not illustrated anddescribed here in detail. The calibration procedure determines, for thisparticular combination of cradle and cartridge, the optimum calibrationparameters of the type stored in TABLE 4, such as demodulation offsetand servo gain. The cradle then adds to TABLE 4 in track 414 of disk 91a new row, which includes the cradle's own unique serial number, thetemperature range identification code which was determined at block 853,and the calibration parameters which were determined by the calibrationprocedure. Further, the cradle configures itself to operate according tothe calibration parameters determined in the calibration procedure.

From either block 858 or block 861, control proceeds to block 862, wherethe cradle 812 carries out a brief test to see if it can effect anerror-free read and/or write to a portion of the disk 91 other than thetrack 414. If so, control proceeds to block 863, which corresponds tonormal operation of the information storage device 810 of FIG. 13. Block863 is shown as a broken line, because there are a number of operationsand decisions which may be carried out during normal operation, butwhich are known in the art and do not need to be illustrated anddescribed here in detail.

If the cartridge 411 is removed from the cradle 812 at some point duringnormal operation, control proceeds from block 863 back to block 851 inorder to wait for reinsertion of that cartridge, or insertion of adifferent cartridge. Alternatively, if an error is detected with respectto reading data from or writing data to the disk 91 during normaloperation in block 863, control proceeds from block 863 to block 866.Control can also arrive at block 866 directly from block 862, if it wasdetermined at block 862 that errors were being encountered in attemptingto access the disk 91.

In block 866, the cradle refers to its corresponding row in TABLE 3, anddetermines the code stored there to identify the best retry method forthis particular cradle to use with the particular cartridge that hasbeen inserted. It then utilizes this retry method to attempt to recoverthe data with respect to which the error was encountered. At block 867,the cradle evaluates whether this data has been recovered by the retrymethod. If not, then at block 868 the cradle checks to see whether ithas tried all of the retry methods set forth in TABLE 2. If not, then atblock 871 it selects and uses another retry method from TABLE 2, andthen returns to block 867 to evaluate whether this alternative retrymethod was successful in recovering the data.

At some point, the cradle may determine at block 867 that the data hasbeen successfully recovered. If so, then control proceeds from block 867to block 872, where the cradle updates its corresponding row in TABLE 3on the disk 91, in order to save the successful retry method as the bestretry method to use in the future. From block 872, control returns toblock 862.

Alternatively, if the cradle does not eventually determine at block 867that the data has been recovered, it will eventually determine at block868 that it has tried every one of the retry methods set forth in TABLE2. In that event, control proceeds from block 868 to block 873, wherethe cradle uses the temperature sensor 819 to determine the currentambient temperature, and then uses TABLE 1 to identify the correspondingtemperature range. This is because it is possible that the ambienttemperature has changed to a temperature range different from thetemperature range previously identified in block 853, which could causeerrors. At block 876, the cradle evaluates whether or not thetemperature range identified at block 873 is different from thetemperature range which was previously identified at block 853. If not,control proceeds from block 876 to block 861, in order to determine newcalibration parameters. Alternatively, if it is determined at block 876that the temperature range has in fact changed, then control proceedsfrom block 876 back to block 856, where the cradle will search TABLE 4again in order to determine whether TABLE 4 has an entry for thisparticular cradle and the new temperature range detected at block 873.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 13-14, as discussed above, if the cradledetermines at block 857 that TABLE 4 does not contain an entrycorresponding to itself and the current temperature range, it proceedsto block 861 and carries out a calibration procedure in order todetermine appropriate calibration parameters. Alternatively, however,instead of carrying out the calibration procedure, the cradle couldconfigure itself to use a set of predetermined default parameters, andthen proceed to block 862. So long as no errors were encountered, thecradle would continue to operate using the default parameters.Consequently, the calibration procedure in block 861 would be carriedout only if it was determined at block 876 that there had been a changein the temperature range.

The present invention provides a number of technical advantages. Onesuch technical advantage is that, by saving respective sets ofcalibration parameters on the disk for various combinations of cradlesand environmental conditions, fast initial startup is realized for thevast majority of cartridge insertions, by avoiding the time involved forthe calibration process. A related advantage is that, even though fasterstartup is realized, very accurate operation is also realized, becausethe calibration parameters in use are customized for the particularcombination of cradle, cartridge and environmental conditions.

A further advantage is that, by storing certain history informationrelating to cartridge use, such as a count of the number of times thecartridge has been inserted into each of various different cradles, ananalysis regarding the use of the cartridge can be made in the event thecartridge is returned to its manufacturer. For example, the manufacturercould obtain a sense for whether the cartridge experienced a problemearly in its lifetime, or after a long and useful life involving manyinsertions into many different cradles.

Still another advantage results from the capability to maintain for eachcombination of cartridge and cradle an identification of a retry methodthat has previously been used successfully for this combination.Consequently, in the event it becomes necessary to utilize a retrymethod, there is a good chance that the first method tried will have ahigh likelihood of success, thereby avoiding the time delays required tocarry out a number of retry methods in an attempt to find one that willsuccessfully recover data.

Although several exemplary embodiments have been illustrated anddescribed in detail, it will be understood that various substitutionsand alterations are possible without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention, as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising an information storagecartridge which includes: a port; an information storage medium havingan information storage surface, said information storage surface storinginformation which includes control information, said control informationincluding a plurality of control parameter sets which each correspond toa respective receiving unit into which said cartridge can be removablyinserted; and structure operable to transfer information between saidport and said storage medium, including a head electrically coupled tosaid port and operable to effect at least one of reading informationfrom and writing information to said storage medium, said head and saidstorage medium being supported for relative movement in a manner causingsaid head to move relative to said surface while remaining adjacentthereto, wherein when said cartridge is removably inserted into areceiving unit said structure is operable to facilitate reading of saidcontrol information from said information storage surface using saidhead, and to thereafter facilitate relative movement of said head andsaid storage medium as a function of a current control parameter setthat corresponds to a receiving unit into which said cartridge iscurrently inserted.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidcurrent control parameter set is a selected one of said controlparameters sets stored on said storage medium.
 3. An apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein said current control parameter set is a controlparameter set determined by a calibration procedure in a situation wheresaid control information lacks a control parameter set that correspondsto a receiving unit into which said cartridge is currently inserted. 4.An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said structure is operable tofacilitate storage in said control information of said current controlparameter set determined by said calibration procedure.
 5. An apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein each said control parameter set of saidcontrol information further corresponds to a respective one of aplurality of ranges of a predetermined environmental parameter.
 6. Anapparatus according to claim 5, wherein said environmental parameter isa temperature characteristic.
 7. An apparatus according to claim 5,wherein said environmental parameter is a humidity characteristic.
 8. Anapparatus according to claim 5, wherein said environmental parameter isan ambient air pressure characteristic.
 9. An apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said control information further includes a pluralityof count values which respectively indicate the number of times thatsaid cartridge has been inserted into respective receiving units thatcan removably receive said cartridge.
 10. An apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said control information further includes a tableassociating with each of a plurality of receiving units that canremovably receive said cartridge a selected one of a plurality ofdifferent retry methods, wherein each said retry method can be used toattempt to recover data from said storage medium in response todetection of an error.
 11. A method of operating an information storagecartridge which includes a port and an information storage medium havingan information storage surface, comprising the steps of: storing on saidstorage surface information which includes control information, saidcontrol information including a plurality of control parameter setswhich each correspond to a respective receiving unit into which saidcartridge can be removably inserted; supporting said storage medium anda head for relative movement in a manner causing said head to moverelative to said surface while remaining adjacent thereto; transferringinformation between said port and said storage medium, including use ofsaid head to effect at least one of reading information from and writinginformation to said storage medium; reading said control informationfrom said information storage surface using said head; selecting fromsaid control information one of said control parameter sets whichcorresponds to a respective receiving unit into which said cartridge iscurrently inserted; and thereafter effecting the relative movement ofsaid head and said storage medium as a function of said selected controlparameter set.
 12. A method according to claim 11, further including thesteps of: responding to insertion of said cartridge into a receivingunit by determining whether one of said control parameters sets in saidcontrol information corresponds to the receiving unit in which saidcartridges is removably inserted; responding to a determination thatsaid control information lacks a control parameter set for the receivingunit by carrying out a calibration procedure to determine a controlparameter set which is then added to said control information; and thencarrying out said selecting step.
 13. A method according to claim 11,including the step of configuring said control information so that eachof said control parameter sets corresponds to a combination of arespective receiving unit and a respective range of a predeterminedenvironmental parameter.
 14. A method according to claim 13, includingthe step of selecting a temperature characteristic as said predeterminedenvironmental parameter.
 15. A method according to claim 13, includingthe step of selecting a humidity characteristic as said predeterminedenvironmental parameter.
 16. A method according to claim 13, includingthe step of selecting an ambient air pressure characteristic as saidpredetermined environmental parameter.
 17. A method according to claim11, including the step of including in said control information aplurality of count values which respectively indicate the number oftimes said cartridge has been inserted into respective receiving unitsthat can removably receive said cartridge.
 18. A method according toclaim 11, including the step of providing within said controlinformation a table associating with each of a plurality of receivingunits that can removably receive said cartridge a selected one of aplurality of retry methods, wherein each said retry method can be usedto attempt to recover data from said storage medium in response todetection of an error.
 19. An apparatus comprising: an informationstorage cartridge having information storage structure which storesselected information that includes control information, said controlinformation including a plurality of control parameter sets which eachcorrespond to a respective receiving unit into which said cartridge canbe removably inserted, said information storage structure including aninformation storage medium with an information storage surface, at leasta portion of said selected information being stored on said surface ofsaid information storage medium.
 20. An apparatus according to claim 19,including: a head which, when said cartridge is removably inserted intoa receiving unit, is movable relative to said surface of saidinformation storage medium while remaining adjacent thereto; and furtherstructure which, when said cartridge is removably inserted into areceiving unit, is operable to facilitate reading of said controlinformation from said information storage structure, and to thereafterfacilitate relative movement of said head and said storage medium as afunction of a current control parameter set that corresponds to areceiving unit into which said cartridge is currently inserted.
 21. Anapparatus according to claim 20, wherein said control information isstored on said surface of said information storage medium; and whereinsaid further structure facilitates use of said head to effect saidreading of said control information.
 22. An apparatus according to claim20, wherein said current control parameter set is a selected one of saidcontrol parameters sets stored on said storage medium.
 23. An apparatusaccording to claim 20, wherein said current control parameter set is acontrol parameter set determined by a calibration procedure in asituation where said control information lacks a control parameter setthat corresponds to a receiving unit into which said cartridge iscurrently inserted.
 24. An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein saidfurther structure is operable to facilitate storage in said controlinformation of said current control parameter set determined by saidcalibration procedure.
 25. An apparatus according to claim 19, whereineach said control parameter set of said control information furthercorresponds to a respective one of a plurality of ranges of apredetermined environmental parameter.
 26. An apparatus according toclaim 25, wherein said environmental parameter is one of a temperaturecharacteristic, a humidity characteristic, and an ambient air pressurecharacteristic.
 27. An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein saidcontrol information further includes a plurality of count values whichrespectively indicate the number of times that said cartridge has beeninserted into respective receiving units that can removably receive saidcartridge.
 28. An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said controlinformation further includes a table associating with each of aplurality of receiving units that can removably receive said cartridge aselected one of a plurality of different retry methods, wherein eachsaid retry method can be used to attempt to recover data from saidstorage medium in response to detection of an error.
 29. A method ofoperating an information storage cartridge which includes informationstorage structure having an information storage medium with aninformation storage surface, comprising: storing in said informationstorage structure selected information which includes controlinformation, said control information including a plurality of controlparameter sets which each correspond to a respective receiving unit intowhich said cartridge can be removably inserted, at least a portion ofsaid selected information being stored on said surface of saidinformation storage medium.
 30. A method according to claim 29,including: causing a head to move relative to said surface of saidinformation storage medium while remaining adjacent thereto when saidcartridge is removably inserted into a receiving unit; reading saidcontrol information from said information storage structure when saidcartridge is removably inserted into a receiving unit; and thereaftereffecting relative movement of said head and said storage medium as afunction of a current control parameter set that corresponds to areceiving unit into which said cartridge is currently inserted.
 31. Amethod according to claim 30, wherein said storing of said selectedinformation includes storing said control information on said surface ofsaid information storage medium; and wherein said reading of saidcontrol information includes use of said head to read said controlinformation from said surface.
 32. A method according to claim 30,further including: responding to insertion of said cartridge into areceiving unit by determining whether one of said control parameterssets in said control information corresponds to the receiving unit inwhich said cartridge is removably inserted; responding to adetermination that said control information includes a control parameterset for the receiving unit by selecting from said control information assaid current control parameter set a control parameter set for thereceiving unit.
 33. A method according to claim 30, further including:responding to insertion of said cartridge into a receiving unit bydetermining whether one of said control parameters sets in said controlinformation corresponds to the receiving unit in which said cartridge isremovably inserted; responding to a determination that said controlinformation lacks a control parameter set for the receiving unit bycarrying out a calibration procedure to determine a control parameterset which is then added to said control information and used as said assaid current control parameter set.
 34. A method according to claim 29,including configuring said control information so that each of saidcontrol parameter sets corresponds to a combination of a respectivereceiving unit and a respective range of a predetermined environmentalparameter.
 35. A method according to claim 34, including selecting assaid predetermined environmental parameter one of a temperaturecharacteristic, a humidity characteristic, and an ambient air pressurecharacteristic.
 36. A method according to claim 29, including providingwithin said control information a plurality of count values whichrespectively indicate the number of times said cartridge has beeninserted into respective receiving units that can removably receive saidcartridge.
 37. A method according to claim 29, including providingwithin said control information a table associating with each of aplurality of receiving units that can removably receive said cartridge aselected one of a plurality of retry methods, wherein each said retrymethod can be used to attempt to recover data from said storage mediumin response to detection of an error.